Mirrors on the ceiling,
The pink champagne on ice
And she said 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device'
The kitchen was chaotic.
Mara and Peter stood in front of the island, eating while Peter continued to fry more eggs. The four teens were crowded around the other three sides, with Cole and Isaac near inhaling their food to Leila's disgust. Cora ate quietly keeping to herself. The counter was brimming with plates, and the food continued to disappear. They could barely walk anywhere else with all the lacrosse junk and duffle bags.
"You have everything?" Mara looked between Isaac and Cole, receiving muffled, but positive responses.
"And you're ready for anything?"
She looked to Leila too. They all nodded at her confidently, but it did little to settle her.
Mara didn't like the idea of them being gone at all, but Peter had convinced her this was the safest way to test them. Not that she had much choice. She needed the time to gather their lives together. Mara was just glad the Coach had allowed Cole to bring her sister. She nodded back at them, before turning to look at the oven.
7:04
She turned back to see Cora had already slipped away.
"Alright, you have 10 to finish up, then you gotta scram."
…..
The bus was packed full of students, and bags. Cole had made her way to the middle of the bus with Leila, behind Isaac and Boyd. Scott had retreated to the far back with Stiles, looking worse than he had when they arrived at the school.
He'd taken a nasty slash during the fight, and it wasn't doing well.
She looked behind her to check on them, but someone else caught her eye. One of the twins sat next to Danny. He was checking his phone while Danny asked him if everything was alright. Clearly he was still waiting for news. Cole seethed at the thought that Ennis might actually survive. The whole mission had been idiotic, but it would be a little better if they at least killed one of theirs.
Her train of thought was broken as Ethan looked back. She followed his gaze. It fell on the two in the back of the bus. Scott jumped up from the window as Stiles said something to him. He looked even worse.
Cole stood up, ignoring the blaring whistle and yelling to sit down from the coach as she walked down the center lane. She sat in front of Scott and Stiles as the bus jumped, hitting a pothole.
"Oh, buddy, you okay?"
Stiles was looking at Scott as he grimaced in pain, leaning weakly against the window once more. His dark curls were plastered to the fogged glass, his skin looking closer to her and Stiles', rather than his usual tan.
"We shouldn't have come. I knew it. We shouldn't have come."
Scott cut through his stressed rambling with strain.
"We had to. There's safety in numbers."
Stiles looked at him with wide eyes in disbelief.
"Yeah, well, there's also death in numbers, okay? It's called a massacre... or bloodbath, carnage, slaughter, butchery, wow, that's…"
Cole snickered, watching Stiles scroll through his list of synonyms on his ipad. Both boys jumped, finally clueing in to her presence.
She frowned as Scott's face twisted in pain once more, and he sat back slowly. Stiles cut back in.
"Alright, I'm telling coach…"
"No. No, no, no." Scott almost begged. "I'm all right."
"Well, you don't look all right." Cole stated blatantly, looking between the two. Scott just looked away weakly. Stiles looked deeply concerned.
"Can we just see it?"
She tried to ask nicely.
"I'm okay." Scott reiterated, still staring out the side.
"Just let me see it, okay?" Stiles snapped at him. Scott turned back and looked between the both of them, intently staring him down.
"Okay."
He began to pull his shirt up, the fabric still clinging to wet parts of exposed flesh. As he reached his chest, they were both staring at him wide eyed.
"Oh, dude…" Stiles trailed off.
The slash was visceral. It tore across his entire right rib cage. The blood was still sticky, due to the sheer amount trying to clot the wound. Cole was sure had they not filled in and dried, she would see bone beneath. It wasn't lethal to one of them, but the extent worried her.
"I know it's bad, but it's because they're from an Alpha. It'll take longer to heal."
She looked him straight in the eyes. He knew this wasn't like any alpha wound. His body was reacting almost like a human. He turned away again, looking out the window.
"How come Boyd and Cora are fine then?" Stiles cut in, clearly thinking like Cole. Scott didn't answer, still gazing off.
"I can't believe Derek's dead."
Cole continued to watch him, his words bringing back the feelings of anger in her. She could hear the sadness in his voice. He had clearly cared alot for Derek, in spite of all he had done to him. Cole couldn't fathom how Scott could be so forgiving.
"Hey, Scott,"
Stiles' voice cut through both their thoughts.
"you're bleeding again. And don't tell me that it's just taking longer to heal, okay? Because I'm pretty sure that still bleeding means not healing, like, at all."
Cole looked to his chest, where she could see the beginnings of seepage through his shirt.
She felt the pinpricks of someone's eyes on the back of her neck. She looked around them, catching Ethan with his head tilted in their direction.
"He's listening." Scott hissed. Stiles looked at him, wide eyes.
"Is he gonna do something?"
Cole continued to look right at Ethan, who turned back to focus on Danny.
"He knows better." She stated simply. Mara had forewarned her Ducalion didn't seem happy with the fights at school. The twins seemed to be lowest of whatever heiarchy their pack held. It seemed to put Scott at ease, but not Stiles, who was focused ahead of her.
"Okay, well, what about the two ticking time bombs sitting right near him?"
They were interrupted when the bus came to a slamming halt in a sudden burst of traffic on the mountainside. Cole righted herself, before turning forward to the rest of the bus to see what was going on.
Immediately she saw Boyds hand on the seat clenching, claws dug in deep. As he turned back to look at Ethan, his eyes flashed. She was up before Scott could react.
"Let Go."
Leila had beat her to it, her hand gripping his in a wrist lock, pressed flat against the seat now. Cole looked down at him as he muttered at them.
"You think you're gonna kill him? Then what big guy?" Leila prodded on, still holding his arm tight as his nostrils flared.
"I don't care."
She tightened her grip on his wrist.
"But you do care about Scott." Cole stated, rather than asking. She watched as he turned his focus to her. Doubt filled his eyes, still refusing to look away until they both looked towards the injured wolf. Boyd seemed to remember not all was right. His grip on the seat seemed to relax as did Isaac beside him. She nodded at Lei in thanks who simply shrugged. She gave both boys a meaningful look, before she walked back.
"Jared, I'm warning you. I'm an empathetic vomiter. You throw up, I'm gonna throw up right back on you. And it will be profoundly disgusting."
"Please don't talk about throwing up. It's not good."
"I might throw up on you just to make a point, Jared."
"It's not good. It's not good."
As Cole sat, Coach turned back towards the bus to yell at the rest of them.
"Now the rest of you, don't think we're gonna miss this meet because of a slight traffic jam, a minor tornado warning, Jared. We're gonna make this thing. Nothing's gonna stop us! Stilinski, put your hand down."
Cole turned briefly to look at Stiles in confusion.
"You know, there's, like, a food exit about a half a mile up. I don't know if we stop and then maybe...
"We're not gonna stop." Coach snapped cutting him off.
Stiles rolled his eyes in the Coaches direction.
"Okay, but if we stop…"
The sharp sound of the whistle made them all jump.
" Stilinski! Shut it! Seriously! It's a little bus! Stop asking me questions!"
The coach turned his back on them once more, staring out the front. Stiles sat in affronted shock.
"You're gonna catch flies." Cole teased, prompting him to shut his mouth and scowl.
"I hate him. And you. Did you call Deaton?" He asked the last part towards Scott.
"I keep getting his voice mail."
They sat in silence for a moment, before Leila made her way back to them as well.
"I'm calling Lydia if you three don't have any better ideas."
They all looked at her with a confused expression as she sat down beside her sister.
"How is she gonna help over the phone?" Cole asked, looking at Lei with a tilt. The youngest just smirked.
"She's not. Her and Allison have been following us for hours."
"Pathetic." Stiles muttered under his breath.
Cole snickered as Leila pulled out her phone to make the call. Lydia picked up after two rings.
"Hey, Leila. Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie, uh, you know, the popcorn and...
"I know you guys are right behind us. Put me on speaker."
"Yeah...Okay."
" Scott's still hurt."
"What do you mean still? He's not healing?"
They heard the familiar chilling sound of Allisons voice cut through the brief silence on the other end. Cole responded
"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The blood's turning, like, a black color. We can't get a hold of Deaton."
"What's wrong with him?"
Cole barked a laugh, before she sputtered out a reply. Leila had just rolled her eyes dramaticly.
"What's wrong with him? I don't... Do I have a PhD in lycanthropy cause I'm a wolf? Why do you think we called you?"
" We need to get him off the bus." Leila cut in.
" And take him where, a hospital?"
Stiles looked between them, tone of disbelief previlant, but it was Allison who replied.
"If he's dying, yeah. Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over."
"Yeah, I've been trying."
"Well, reason with him."
"Reason? Have you met this guy?"
"Just try something."
Allison hung up then, leaving the three of them to stop the bus.
Leilia tucked her phone in, looking towards the front of the bus then back at Stiles with a plotting look Cole knew well.
"Stiles, why don't you have a chat with Jared?" She suggested innocently, as they all looked towards the stalky ill kid with his head hanging from the window.
"Jared, you suck! Hey, somebody grab some towels or a mop! Or a new bus!"
Coach yelled out the window after them as everyone hustled off the bus to avoid the wretched smell. Her and Stiles supported Scott, who was now struggling to walk himself into the bathroom.
They lowered him gently to the floor between the sinks, propping him upright. She heard the door click ocked behind them as Leila locked it behind them. Cole gently pulled his shirt up once more. Allison gasped, now standing just beside her. Cole was in shock too. It had severely turned for the worst. It had fully blackened, every tear leaking dead blood. There had been no signs of it healing.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Allison almost whispered.
"Sorry." He mumbled. He seemed barely coherent. It made her stomach hurt.
" Just give us a second, okay?" Cole said to him as she stood up, motioning for Allison to join her.
They turned to look at the other three.
"This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this." Allison stated, still unable to take her eyes off him. Stiles was becoming frantic.
"Okay, what do we do then? Do we just call an ambulance?"
"It's too late, Stiles. They can't help." Leila replied, looking down at the teen as well. Cole knew her pronosis was probably accurate. It didn't take a medical degree to see he was severely deteriorating.
"We gotta do something." Stiles replied. Everyone's anxiety was evidently growing.
"You know, it could be psychological. Somatoformic."
They turned to look at the source of the the suggestion, Lydia, with blank stares.
"A physical illness from a psychogenic cause. It's all in his head." She explained further, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"All in his head?" Stiles stopped, going quiet. Cole recognised the look of knowing in his eyes.
"Because of Derek." Leila supplied, sharing the expression. He nodded in agreement, before replying.
"He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died."
"So what do we do?" Allison asked, looking back and forth between them.
"Stitch him up." Lydia cut in, to receive more stares. She snapped at them. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing."
They were all quiet for a few moments as they pondered the idea. Cole hoped one of the humans knew how to do this, because it was out of their expertise. Allison was the one to volunteer.
"I'll do it. But I need a first aid kit."
"On it." Leila said, before turning and heading out the door.
"He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" She asked, looking around. Stiles looked at her unsure.
"Um, I'm gonna get it. I hate needles anyway, so... uh, do you know what you're doing?"
"Yeah Stiles, my father taught me." Her tone was sure and her gaze was steady, so Cole did her best to ignore the flutter of her heart. This was the best… well only option really.
" I mean, how fast are you gonna... I mean, the bus, like, the bus could leave." Stiles stuttered, seeming more worried.
Cole harshly patted his shoulder with a reassuring smile at Allison.
"We'll make sure that won't happen, won't we?"
Stiles looked at her, then turned towards Allison and nodded.
"I can help." Lydia added, following them towards the door.
Cole ran the shirt to Allison, while Lydia and Stiles were meant to hold up the bus. She stood with Leila for only a moment before she could hear someone yelling, and a commotion.
She turned to see Stiles booking it for them, so she met him more than half way. He stumbled to a stop, panting heavily.
"He... went after him….. I told them…. what happened…. and.. he just went after him."
Cole took off towards the group she could now see gathered beside the parking lot.
It wasn't Boyd, like she had expected, but Isaac.
Ethan was on the ground. Isaac held him by the shoulder of his shirt. The sound of his fist connecting with Ethan's badly beaten face echoed throughout the lot.
Danny was the only one willing to get involved. He made futile attempts to stop Isaac, grabbing at his arms as he yelled. He was easily thrown off, sent tumbling in the grass. She couldn't tell how long he had been going because the kid's face was smashed. Coach was screaming Isaac's name, to no avail. Even Coach seemed hesitant to try and stop him.
"Isaac!" She screamed at him, feeling her throat rip with the veracity of her yell.
The sound reverberated off everything, stopping everything at hand. Everyone had turned to look at her, including Isaac. He blinked at her slowly, his eyes returning to their warm blue before anyone noticed. She stared at him angrily, adrenaline pumping though her deafeningly.
Coach began yelling at him, taking his attention away. Cole shook her head to clear it, before turning back towards the bathrooms.
Allison had stumbled out of the bathroom supporting Scott. Leila moved to help her before he lost his balance. She headed right for them.
Seeing her approach, Allison went up and asked Leila something, which she begrudgingly responded to.
Allison started walking towards Cole to her surprise. They stopped two feet from each other.
"I know you two don't exactly like me for some reason, but I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important." She stated. Cole looked at her curiously. She was clearly so ignorant of her family and how they were. Cole almost felt bad how confused she seemed.
"Go on."
"I was there when they fought the alphas."
Cole nodded knowingly.
"Thankfully, or they would have come out worse off."
"I saw something, when the dead one attacked Scott."
She had Cole's interest now. She squinted at her waiting for the rest.
"When the hit eachother, and flew back, Scott looked up. I swear, just for a second… his eyes flashed red."
Cole contained herself, retaining the scrutinous expression. She pondered the possibilities for a moment, before formulating a response.
"It probably had something to do with Derek." She dismissed Allison, examining her closely through her laxed expression. Allison must have felt satisfied because she seemed to relax.
"You would know better than me."
More accurate than she knew.
Allison turned to go towards the bus when Cole's voice rang out once more, stopping her flat.
"Allison."
The girl turned quickly, expression unreadable. Cole almost backed down.
"It's not us who owe you an explanation. Talk to your father."
Cole began to walk in the other direction.
She pondered calling her sister and filling her in.
She decided to head back towards the bus instead. Maybe things would be alright now that Scott was healing. Allison wouldn't speak to her father till after the trip. Perhaps she'd get lucky.
Thanks for reading! IDK how i feel about The next few chapters since their really important to the story. Hopefully i did them justice. Let me know what you think?
